Apparatus for sorting heterogeneous materials.



D. R. BRYAN.

APPARATUS FOR SORTING HETEROGENEOUS MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED 050.15.19l5. I 1,250,553. Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

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D. R. BRYAN.

} APPARATUS FOR SORTING HETEROGENEOUS MATERIALS.

APPLICATION HLED DEC. 15. I915.

Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

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DANIEL n. BRYAN, or CHATHAM, NEW-JERSEY.

APPARATUS non SORTING nn'rnnosnnnous MATERIALS.

Application filed December 15, 1915. Serial No.i66,998.

To allwhom it mag concern,"

' Be it known that I, DANIEL R. BRYAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chatham, county of Morris, State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Sorting Heterogeueous Materials, of which the following is a specification.

' The present invention has relation to an improvement upon the type of pneumatic separator disclosed inmy prior Patent No. 1,1893%, issued May 18th,.1915, and'my copending application filed May 29th, 1914, Serial No. 841,793, and has for its general object to make use of a blast of air in a classifying column to elevate the particles of material to be sorted and direct these into compartments according to their specific gravities and to this end the invention resides in directing a blast ,of air upwardly through a vertically disposed conduit and in precipitating the particles of material into the path of the blast and providing a series of deposit chambers constructed so as to receive the particles according to their specific gravities. Other objects will appear and be better understood from that embodiment of my invention, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in

Figure 1 is a side elevational view and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view thereof. 4

In the drawings, 1 designates a vertical conduit, 2 a means for feeding material thereto, and 3 a means for creating a blast of air within the conduit; v

The conduit is preferably constructed of a series of cylindrical sections superimposed one upon the other, and is provided with a plurality of passages 4:, 5 and 6, which are horizontally arranged at difierent vertical positions, in the length of the conduit, for the discharge of material therethrough. Surrounding the passages 4: and 5 are annular hoods forming deposit chambers 7 and 8. The walls of these chambers are formed of a suitable sheet metal and each chamber has an inclined bottom 9 which communicates with a chute 10 through whichunate v rial collected within the chambers is conveyed to a receiving compartment where it accumulates and from whence it is removed as occasion requires.

The outlet passage 6 is arranged in a dome Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 11 located-at the upper end of the conduit,

and this dome is in communication with a chute 12 through which material is conveyed toa receiving compartment. A lateral open- Dec. 18, 1917,

ing 13 is also provided in the conduit at a I point below the. outlet opening l, and communicating with the opening is shown a means for feeding material into the conduit. The feeding means is herein shown in the form of an endless conveyer 14:, having its upper end mounted to revolve in a bearing 15, "which is suitably secured to the side of the conduit as shown. A plurality of slats 16 are provided to act as a means for holding the material on the conveyer and also act as a means for intermittently closing the feed passage to the atmosphere when the conveyer 1s in'operation.

To prevent the inlet passage from becoming choked'by relatively l'arge particles of the material such as sticks, paper, rags, etc.,

l have provided a gate or door 17. This gate is in communication with and located above the inlet passage,- and by reason of beingpivotally connected to the condult as at 18 the said gate swings inwardly 'when the material contacts therewith during the operation of theconveyer.

A lug 19 mounted on the upper end of the gate and engaging the outer side of the conduit limits the outward movement of the gate to a point within the-plane of the side of the conduit.

Arranged at a point on the conduit and oppositely disposed below the gate is an offset or inwardly projecting portion 20, which acts in conjunction with the slats 16 of' the conveyer to eflect the closing of the feed passage as shown. This inwardly projecting portion also acts as a baflie to direct the blast of air away from the conveyerv when the apparatus is in use. i In the lower end of the conduit is arranged the means for creating an air blast therein. This meansis herein shown in the form of a rotary fan 21, which may be supported in any'suitable 'manner as by the standards 22 and may be driven by any suitable means not shown.

A screen23 as shown 1s arranged within ,the conduit and :is locatedbelo'w the inlet opening to provide aimeans for catchlng and retaining any particles of the material that may fall to the bottom of the conduit and for acting as a guard to prevent-injury to the blades of the fan.

By means of a series of doors 25, access to the interior of the conduit may be had for the purpose of relieving any congestion of material which might obviously occur when the apparatus is in use.

The operation of the apparatus is as fol lows:

When the fan is in motion, a blast of air is created Within the conduit from the bottom upwardly. Now the material to be sized and Which has had a preliminary sizing, for instance, .by having been passed over a screen for the removal of some of the component parts such as ashes, coals, etc., is then fed into the conduit through the inlet opening, by means of the endless conveyer. After passing into the conduit the material. is then acted upon by the air blast and directed upwardly to be separated according to the specific gravity of its components, that is to say, when the force of the blast is such as will move the relatively heavy components of the mixture to the outlet opening a these particles upon passing through the opening and into the chamber 7 will gravitate through the chute 10, While the lighter components Will move upwardly under the action of the blast until the heavier of these gravitate through the chute 10 connected to the chamber 8. The still lighter components Will be directed upwardly into the dome of the apparatus and will pass off through the opening 6 into the chute. I'vianifestly with this arrangement greater or less number of outlet openings may be employed as the character of the work demands.

It is apparent from the foregoing operation that particles of the material are separated or segregated according to their Weights or sizes and directed into chambers or compartments Where they are accumulated and removed as occasion requires.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangement of parts Without departing from the spirit of my invention, and therefore, I do not Want to be limited to such features, except as may be required by the claims.

1. In a pneumatic classifying column, th combination of a sorting conduit having receivers for collecting the grades of material separated, and formed with a feed opening, means for creating a fluid current through the conduit, and means for feeding the material comprising an endless conveyor entering said feed opening, and adapted to de liver said material to the conduit on a line directly intercepting the line of current blast, and means associated with the endless conveyor for intermittently closing the feed opening to the atmosphere.

2. in a pneumatic classifying column, the combination of a sorting conduit having receivers for collecting the grades of material separated and formed with a feed opening, means for creating a fluid current through the conduit, and means for feeding the material comprising an endless belt having slats entering said feed opening and adapted to deliver said material to the conduit on a line directly intercepting the line of current blast, and means on said conduit constructed to cooperate With said slats and intermittently close the feed opening to the atmosphere.

3. in a pneumatic classifying column, the combination of a sorting conduit having receivers for collecting the grades of material separated, and formed with a feed opening, means for creating a fluid current through the conduit, means for feeding the material, comprising an endless conveyor entering said feed opening, and adapted to deliver said material to the conduit on a line directly intercepting the line of current blast, means associated with the endless conveyer for intermittently closing the feed opening to the atmosphere, and means for preventing the feed opening from becoming choked With material.

a. In a pneumatic classifying column, the combination of a sorting conduit, having receivers for collecting the grades of material separated, and formed with a feed opening; means for creating a fluid current through the conduit, means for feeding the material, comprising an endless conveyor having a plurality of pockets entering said opening and adapted to deliver said material to the conduit on a line directly intercepting the line of current blast, and means on said conduit constructed to cooperate With said conveyer to intermittently close said opening to the atmosphere when the belt pockets are not filled. 7

In testimony whereof, I have signed my ame to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses this 27th day of November, 1915.

DANIEL R. BRYAN,

V' itnesses CHARLES T. YOUNG, WILLIAM TRIES, Jr.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, I). (3. 

